Was it the fun outfits I wore for our dates? No.
Was it the way I flirtatiously batted my eyelashes? Nope.
Was it the way I had food stuck between my teeth on our first date? Thank goodness, no.
So what was it? What kept him around?
Aside from tons of prayer and receiving God's blessings (which are, of course, not earned and totally decided by Him), the technique I used to hook him looked like this:
Oh, the power of a peanut butter jelly sandwich! The strength of a bag of chips! Oh, the persuasive effects of a chewy granola bar! It all added up to something much BIGGER than ourselves.
And there were tiny details, too.
Early in our courtship, Michael would drive from Maryland to visit me in Pennsylvania every day after work. Often, he would take me out to eat. Sometimes, I would serve him dinner. But regardless, I would always pack his lunch before he drove home for the night.
At first, I probably did it because it kept him at the house a wee bit longer. :)
It would already be 10 PM and he was long overdue for getting on the road, but would he like to stick around for just 15 minutes more while I packed his lunch? Well, sure!
And then the next day at work, as he dove into the bag for his bowl of cereal, a mid-morning snack, and eventually lunch itself, he was reminded of me and our lovely evening the night before.
And he would text me to thank me and tell me how delicious everything was. And I would text back, asking if he tasted my secret ingredient, the one that can neither be bought nor sold.
As our courtship continued, we had to slow the pace down. Neither one of us could stay up so late through the week and be fully functional. Once we realized that neither of us was going anywhere, we relied more on the telephone through the week (except on Wednesdays when he still visited).
Today, I still try to "hook him" each day by packing his lunch. And he continues to text me shortly after lunch, telling me how good it is. Each day, he writes differently. Today I got this:
So there's my secret, girls! You don't have to be a great chef to hook a man; you just have to pack his lunch with love. :)
